【No. 0970】Sanshita (三下 - Small Fry)
Here the "san" (三) means "three," and the "shita" (下) means "under," so the literal meaning of "sanshita" is just "under three."
Originally, "sanshita" was used to mean a lower-level person among gamblers.
In Japanese gambling using dice, one and two (under three) were weak, so losers have come to be called "sanshita."
From this, lower-level people/small fry have come to be called "sanshita" even outside the field of gambling.
I work at a university, but I have the least experience among teachers, that is, I'm a sanshita.
下っ端を意味する言葉に、「三下」というものがあります。
もともと「三下」は、博打打の仲間の間で下っ端の者、最下位の者を指す言葉でした。
サイコロ賭博において、3 より下の 1 や 2 の目しか出ない人は勝負に勝てないことから、そのような人を「三下」と呼ぶようになったのが始まりです。
これが転じて、下っ端の人や取るに足りない人のことを「三下」と呼ぶようになりました。
私は現在大学に勤めていますが、下っ端、すなわち三下です。
Corrections (3)
- Today I would like to talk about the Japanese word "sanshita" (三下), which means a lower-level member of an organization.
- This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
- Here the "san" (三) means "three," and the "shita" (下) means "under," so the literal meaning of "sanshita" is just "under three."
- Here the "san" (三) means "three," and the "shita" (下) means "under," so the literal meaning of "sanshita" is "under three."
- Originally, "sanshita" was used to mean a lower-level person among gamblers.
- This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
- In Japanese gambling using dice, one and two (under three) were weak, so losers have come to be called "sanshita."
- In Japanese gambling using dice, one and two (the numbers below three) were weak, so losers were called "sanshita."
- From this, lower-level people/small fry have come to be called "sanshita" even outside the field of gambling.
- Since then, lower-level people are called "sanshita", even outside of gambling scenarios.
- I work at a university, but I have the least experience among teachers, that is, I'm a sanshita.
- I work at a university, but I have the least experience among teachers, so I'm the sanshita.
This is a very interesting thing that I did not know about Japanese culture. Thank you! By the way, the word "small fry" is more so used to describe a person who is "weak" especially if a person has a very small and weak appearance. I think sanshita in English would describe the word we'd use for "junior". Usually the word junior describes a person who has less work experience in their field. "The most junior" may be used to describe the person with the least amount of experience, but the word "junior" by itself could also be used if it's only being used to describe one person out of many.
If you have a moment, please take a look at my posts and correct them. Thank you!
Thank you so much for correcting my post!
"The most junior" might be appropriate indeed. However, it might be more appropriate for other Japanese words, such as "shinzin" (新人) or "shitappa" (下っ端), because "sanshita" contains a little derogatory nuance.
(If "the most junior" contains a derogatory nuance, I think that it will be perfectly appropriate as a translation of "sanshita.")
- Today I would like to talk about the Japanese word "sanshita" (三下), which means a lower-level member of an organization.
-
Today I would like to talk about the Japanese word "sanshita" (三下), which means a lower-level member of an organization.
lower-level also okay. low-level sounds more natural.
- Here the "san" (三) means "three," and the "shita" (下) means "under," so the literal meaning of "sanshita" is just "under three."
- Here the "san" (三) means "three," and the "shita" (下) means "under," so the literal meaning of "sanshita" is just "under three."
- Originally, "sanshita" was used to mean a lower-level person among gamblers.
- Originally, "sanshita" was used to mean a lower-level person among gamblers.
- In Japanese gambling using dice, one and two (under three) were weak, so losers have come to be called "sanshita."
- In Japanese gambling, players use dice, and one and two (under three) were weak so losers have come to be called "sanshita."
- I work at a university, but I have the least experience among teachers, that is, I'm a sanshita.
- I work at a university, but I have the least experience among teachers, as such, I'm the sanshita.
Thank you so much for correcting my post! (^^)
- Sanshita (三下 - Small Fry)
- This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
- Today I would like to talk about the Japanese word "sanshita" (三下), which means a lower-level member of an organization.
- This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
- Here the "san" (三) means "three," and the "shita" (下) means "under," so the literal meaning of "sanshita" is just "under three."
- Here the "san" (三) means "three," and the "shita" (下) means "under," so the literal meaning of "sanshita" is "under three."
- Originally, "sanshita" was used to mean a lower-level person among gamblers.
- This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
- I work at a university, but I have the least experience among teachers, that is, I'm a sanshita.
- I work at a university, but I have the least experience among the teachers, so I'm the sanshita.
It's always fascinating to figure out the history of words. Just for your information, the study of a word's history and origin is called "etymology" in English.
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Thank you so much for the corrections!
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